Balancing the ticket is a fine idea. Picking a veep with more international chops than Obama? Sure. Picking a woman since they are half our population and Obama very much is not one? Absolutely! Balancing out the best judgment of Obama's career (the "let's not go to war in Iraq" one) with someone who was profoundly wrong on Iraq? Let's do it! Oh wait...
It's time for some positive reinforcement in Washington, and right now it appears there isn't any.
Evan Bayh, the co-chair of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq who not just voted in favor of going to war, but was instrumental in corralling other Democrats and getting other options off the table, is rumored high on the short list. Wes Clark, who had it right from the get-go on Iraq, has been told by the Obama campaign that his services aren't needed at the convention, let alone at the bottom of the ticket.
On the Facebook group opposing Bayh for VP, people sometimes show up to tell us that what we're doing is ridiculous. My favorite quote is "Let's have Hannah Montana for VP. She opposed the war, she must be qualified!" I got a good laugh out of it, but I still don't get how it's somehow an absurd, fringe notion that in order to qualify for the 2nd highest office in the land, one should have been right on the most important issue of his/her political career. It certainly makes more sense than the notion that to have been profoundly wrong on national security makes one strong on national security.
But anyways - less talk, more rock. Here is song #46, "Vultures and Hawks", about how as long as folks in Washington have spoils to reap from their own bad decisions, they aren't going to stop making them.
Click the play button below to hear the song.
Vultures and Hawks
I'm open to suggestions, we'll I'd like to think I am
Frankly for the life of me I just can't understand
Why they're out in Indiana, looking near and far
To hire a mechanic among the folks who wrecked the car
Where's the reward for the foresight, clear + steady hands
Aggression is at a discount and good sense is in demand
Wrong, oh wrong, it rhymes with strong, and that's all right for just a song
After that it makes no sense to me
They'll talk and talk and talk and talk
Making vultures out of the hawks, stuff their stomachs silly with debris
Flying in formation towards defeat
So forget about that mess in which we're currently embroiled
No matter if we win our lose, to the vultures go the spoils
If these old delusions never have a consequence
They'll always play in favor of a good careerist sense
Some recompense is in order to those who got it right
And bothered to do all the research and figure out despite
All attempts at obfuscation what we really could expect
And chose not to hedge their bets in blood, yeah we owe them some respect
Wrong, oh wrong, it rhymes with strong, and that's all right for just a song
After that it makes no sense to me
They'll talk and talk and talk and talk
Making vultures out of the hawks, stuff their stomachs silly with debris
Flying in formation towards defeat
Max and the Marginalized are a band and a blog. We do a song every week on the Huffington Post, all 46 of which are available for download here. Add them on Facebook or MySpace.